Case Studies

Macon Raine agency leaves manual processes behind.

FunctionFox PROVIDES THE FLEXIBILITY, ADAPTABILITY, AND EASE OF USE FOR FORWARD THINKING AGENCY

Macon Raine is a hybrid social marketing agency - part B2B marketing, part creative, part marketing automation and part CRM experts. They build campaigns and content for their clients that drive demand, increase prospect inquiries and boost web visits. Unlike traditional agencies, they manage both creative and technology, using tools like Salesforce.com, Hubspot and other CRM and marketing automation platforms.

The company's active client roster includes technology, staffing and professional services companies, financial institutions, universities and research organizations.

"When we were a tiny agency, it was easy for me to keep track of everything in my head," says Ben Bradley, founder and Managing Director. "But then we started growing. Too fast, maybe. Our project and time management processes couldn't keep up. We billed some clients incorrectly, and others didn't get billed at all - and we developed an unhealthy reliance on manual processes that nearly crippled us."

Bradley knew things had to change. "Our internal processes were totally out of sync with who we are as a company," says Bradley, "You can't sell process excellence to your clients when your own processes are not excellent. We were using a combination of tools and processes to track time and projects including spreadsheet programs and other online tools. The gum and bailing wire approach didn't work with our innovative business model."

Macon Raine's business model includes a fixed monthly fee for each client, with bonuses payable when campaigns are successful. "Whenever we invest more time than the fixed monthly fee covers, we need to understand our investment and if we can recoup that investment through success fees," says Bradley, "Careful management of projects and profitability is extremely important."

Bradley reviewed a number of systems in his search for something better. "As the IT guy (and the chief dishwasher, janitor and founder) of Macon Raine, I ran FunctionFox in parallel with other systems to test it out," he says, "We ended up choosing it for three reasons: it was simple to use, it was flexible, and it was easy to adapt to our unique business model."

Bradley's management style is also open - everyone can see everything - including hours, estimates, profitability and the status of every job. "FunctionFox is perfect. It helps everyone see which projects are on track and which ones are headed south, so we can avoid disasters and keep everything moving smoothly," says Bradley.

Getting FunctionFox set up was easy for Macon Raine. "It took less than a day," says Bradley, "which was less time than it took to train everyone on the processes that we would use for tracking time and projects in FunctionFox."

Bradley admits that some team members were skeptical about switching to yet another project management system, "We worked through those issues, though," he says, "Once everyone started using it, they saw that it was different - and better - than the other systems we'd tried."

For Macon Raine, the key benefits of switching to FunctionFox have been:

Increased profitability because of better time and project management;

Improved communication among team members;

Easy implementation and adaptability to a unique business model.

"FunctionFox IS FLEXIBLE AND EASY TO USE, AND IT SUPPORTS THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS." Ben Bradley, Founder and CEO, Macon Raine

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